Team Newtown: Federal gun-control laws have a chance

Updated 11:37 pm, Friday, April 5, 2013

HARTFORD -- U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he believes there is a chance to gather the 60 Senate votes necessary to bring tougher federal gun-control measures to a vote.

"I think realistically we have work to do, but I am increasingly hopeful, especially after the bill from Connecticut and the new law -- the strongest in the country -- that we are closer than ever before," Blumenthal said during a rally on the steps of City Hall here.

"I am increasingly hopeful that the combination of the president's very powerful advocacy, the voices of victims and ordinary citizens and the example of Connecticut's law will provide momentum and impetus that we need," Blumenthal said. "I believe we are on the cusp of 60 votes to reach the floor with the bill."

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy agreed. He joined the rally along with U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., Newtown First Selectman Patricia Llodra, some Newtown organizations and Hartford area parents who have lost children to gun violence.

"The NRA wants a filibuster on this bill because they don't want it to come to a vote on the floor," Murphy said. "They know that Republicans are fearful of the political consequences of continuing to be obstructionists. It's very hard to get Republicans to sit down and negotiate a background-checks provision or a ban on high-capacity magazines, but many of them, I believe, will support it if we bring it to the floor."

The lawmakers said "Team Newtown" will journey to Washington next week to help promote national gun control legislation.

Llodra, said she was proud of the bill, which passed with overwhelming majorities in the Senate on Wednesday and the House early Thursday. She missed Thursday's bill signing in the Capitol to attend what would have been a seventh birthday party in Newtown for Ana Marquez-Greene.

"I received an email the other day from a constituent who is displeased with my stance on gun control," Llodra said to reporters, photographers and a dozen passersby on Main Street here.

"The writer took me to task, saying that I am making the issues too emotional, too personal, and that what I should really focus on is the right of law-abiding citizens to bear arms," she said. "I acknowledged that many good citizens have done no harm with their arms; that the Second Amendment rights are important and need to be protected," Llodra said. "For me, however, it is the loss of innocent lives that is exactly the point that needs to drive the conversation."

"Our hope is that Washington draws some inspiration from what happened here in Connecticut this week," Murphy said. "Connecticut's gun-violence bill is important, not just because it's the strongest in the nation, but because they did it with Republicans and Democrats coming together saying that enough is enough. We hope that this week is a turning point in the national discussion about gun violence."

Murphy, looking forward to President Barack Obama's visit Monday at the University of Hartford, said he thinks the president should talk about the possibility of another mass murder.

"I don't want members of the Senate and members of Congress to think that this can't happen again," Murphy said. "No community should have to go through what Newtown has gone through. Ultimately, we don't make our streets safer unless the federal government commits itself to many of the same public safety measures that the state of Connecticut committed itself to."

If the gun-control legislation does reach the U.S. Senate, Blumenthal said he would introduce an amendment to ban large-capacity ammunition magazines as a companion piece to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's amendment against assault-style weapons.